NO single individual or event in the country in recent months has had the kind of momentum of classic drama as the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria(IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. Since 2015 when he, and his wife, Zeenat, were thrown into detention by the Department of State Service(DSS), the Federal Government has, perhaps unwittingly,  made him a grandeur of a tragic hero. It has been a rollercoaster ride, an immensely complicated matter to get the couple released, even after a series of court judgments in Kaduna and Abuja. The refusal of government to obey the courts’ rulings has resulted in his fervid supporters embarking on a number of  peaceful protests in Abuja.  These demonstrations  resulted in  almost total  lockdown of activities in  the Federal Capital, and the death of a youth corps member and a police officer as well as the  destruction of property. 

This tensed period,( and more troubles may be ahead), it would not be unkind to say that El-Zakzaky and those who believe in his  ‘messianic’ leadership, have become a political hot potato to the Buhari presidency. So far, the Shiites leader has become  like a soap opera, a  narrative, stocked with dozens of episodes, characters, decisions and suspense – all driving toward unknown, but  sad conclusions. For the first that this intriguing matter began, President Muhammadu Buhari and the DSS became  rational, suddenly . They listened to voices of reason in the country. They complied with the court order of a Kaduna High Court, presided  by Justice Darius Khobo, which granted the IMN leader’s request to take care of his widely reported deteriorating health in a hospital in India, where his lawyers, and associates reportedly asked for. But, he would travel with state officials and four family members, the court stated in its ruling.

Expectedly, there was excitement in the Shiittes’ camp when El-Zakzaky and wife, flew out of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, August 12, via Emirate Flight to New Delhi, India. The name of the hospital is Madenta, one of the best hospitals in India. But what seemed like a classic good ending to a conundrum has become perhaps the beginning of yet another complicated issue with unforeseen consequences.  The IMN leader and his wife had since returned to the country, and back to where they left from – the DSS custody. From what is already public knowledge, El-Zakzaky refused  to submit himself to treatment, saying he wouldn’t submit himself to doctors he could not trust. He also reportedly claimed that even Kirikiri prison will not affect him psychologically as the Indian hospital. Besides, he was quoted as saying that “it will not be possible for us to come out of detention just to get medical attention and now find ourselves into another”.  Summary: He rejected all the doctors given to him.

His hot-headed supporters have added their own spin on the matter. They have alleged that the that the Federal Government and some security operatives working for the United States were conniving to ensure that their religious  leader would not be treated in the India hospital. One of the spokespersons of the IMN, Abdullahi Musa, claimed  that the group received a report from the hospital  that officials of the American Embassy in New Delhi instructed the management of the hospital not to admit their leader for treatment. The US has flatly denied all the allegations. The Federal Government has provided its own version of what it believes happened in India that aborted the medical trip. According to a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Grace Isu Gekpe, the IMN leader violated the conditions granted him and his wife, by the Federal High Court, in Kaduna. The statement claimed  that on reaching to the hospital in India , El-Zakzaky requested that his passport be given to him which the state officials refused. “The situation”, the statement added, “became worse in India as he(El-Zakzaky) refused to submit himself to preliminary medical checks”. Government said the signs that the sect leader had ulterior motives began to manifest in Dubai enroute to India. Government  also claimed El-Zakzaky requested to be lodged in a 5-Star hotel in India, and that police protection be withdrawn from him by the Indian authorities. Furthermore, it alleged that the IMN leader “created a stalemate which the hospital insisted he would not dictate to it the choice of medical personnel that will carry the required medical treatment”. Beyond that, state officials said they uncovered a plot by the sheikh to seek asylum in a foreign country, preferably, Iran. All of this sounds like a soap opera, isn’t it? It surely doe. I hope Bollywood and Noollywood filmmakers are keenly watching.  But,  I’m asking: what does El-Zakzaky  really want? I have asked medical doctors what they make of the sect’s leader’s demands while in India.  They told me it’s against medical ethics for a patient who is really sick and wants treatment, to dictate to doctors assigned to him. “It’s not done”, one of the doctors told me, matter-of-factly.

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My instincts tell me that the Shiites leader has something up his sleeve. What, exactly, I don’t know. But watch out as this matter unfolds. This man should be seen as burdensome insect on  a very delicate part of the body. If he’s not handled with utmost  responsibility , he may cause a collateral damage to the already fragility peace and insecurity in the land graver than his fervid supporters had done already. Therefore, what’s the best way to handle this complicated matter, going forward? First, Buhari deserves our commendation for granting the medical trip to India, contrary to the sticky conditionalities by the Governor of Kaduna state, Malam El-Rufai.

But, I am troubled by the evident vulnerability of our society to terror, and the probable consequences, should, by any sleight of hand,  the shiite leader die in government’s hands. Recall that just recently, his daughter, Suhaila, had claimed that her father was suffering from lead and cadmium poisoning which could result in his death any moment. She told the British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC) ‘Focus on  Africa’ , that the poisoning might be the result of shrapnel on her father’s body when he was shot in 2015 when the Nigeria Army raided his home in Kaduna. While the Sheikh was in India, Suhaila also claimed that he called  her on phone that armed policemen were inside his hospital room  and he was prevented from being treated by his preferred doctors. What does all of this portend? The message is that the Federal Government and its law-enforcement agencies should be extremely careful not to mishandle the El-Zakzaky issue. This advice has become necessary because, every so often, our law enforcement agencies do overreach themselves while carrying out their duties . And when things go wrong, it’s  the President who  takes the blame.

I don’t know how much President Buhari reads(if at all he does). I recommend for  him to read Bill Clinton’s autobiography, ‘My Life’.  It’s a strikingly candid portrait of a leader with political gifts. But, he relived the  risks of a President who accepts advice from his aides that runs contrary to his instincts. Clinton was referring to how his administration mismanaged the FBI raid on the compound of the religious cult, the Dravidian sect, led by David Koresh, located outside Waco, Texas. Koresh had almost the same messianic aura among his members as El-Zakzaky does among the IMN adherents.

This is what Clinton wrote after FBI raid that became one of his low moments as President of the USA: “One  of the most important decisions a President has to make is when to take the advice of the people who work for him and when to reject it. Nobody can be right all the time, it’s a  lot easier to live with bad decisions that you believe in when you made them than with those your advisors say are right but your gut says are wrong”.  He  noted, rather painfully, that  after Waco, he resolved to go with his gut.  In all,  El-Zakzaky may prove to be Buhari’s Achilles  heel, another firestorm in  his presidency. Therefore, he must handle it with extreme caution and introspection.